Press Freedom

Many countries lack not just a right to freedom of the press, but any semblance of the rule of law. Governments and other powerbrokers see the press as a threat and often target journalists with violence, intimidation and imprisonment to silence them. Yet, more often than not, we get the truth about what is happening in the world from journalists who are willing to put themselves at risk in order to report the truth. The IWMF recognizes the critical role women journalists play in supporting press freedom around the world by supporting those who are targeted for their work, offering them the international recognition and support in times of emergency. At the core of the IWMF’s mission is the belief that press are not truly free unless women have an equal voice.

“We go to remote war zones to report what is happening. The public have a right to know what our government, and our armed forces, are doing in our name. Our mission is to speak the truth to power. We send home that first rough draft of history. We can and do make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the atrocities that befall civilians.”

World Press Freedom Index 2015

Top of the list, as so often, are three Scandinavian countries: Finland, Norway, and Denmark. At the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, in last place, were the worst performers. The United States is ranked 49th (down three places), Russia 152 (down four places), Iran 173rd (unchanged) and China 176th (down one place).

Courage Awardee Khadija Ismayilova Remains Detained in AzerbaijanUpdate – February 24, 2015 RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani service reports that Khadija Ismayilova was found guilty of criminal libel in a closed-door trial today. The hearing was called on short notice and addressed allegations of criminal libel that were not among the initial charges from December 2014. Neither members of the press nor Ismayilova’s family were …

IWMF Website HackedSeptember 12, 2014 — The IWMF website suffered a complex brute-force attack last Friday, September 5, 2014. The website that features the work of the IWMF and promotes the empowerment of women journalists worldwide, was defaced and most of its original content destroyed. Using password-cracking software, a hacker operating from Turkey attacked iwmf.org, a WordPress-based …

Nazeeha Saeed – Raising her voice for journalists in BahrainJuly 8, 2014 — When Bahrani reporter Nazeeha Saeed went to cover an anti-government protest May 22, 2011, in the capital city Manama, she anticipated seeing a resurgence in public resistance after military forces had shut down demonstrations two months earlier. Saeed did not expect to be summoned to a police station where she would …

IWMF and Truthdig join forces for ‘Global Voices’ projectJune 24, 2014 — In collaboration with the IWMF, Truthdig has launched an initiative called Global Voices: Truthdig Women Reporting. The project creates a network of female foreign correspondents from various countries who have all been honored by the IWMF for their courageous journalism. Since 1990, the IWMF’s awards have recognized female reporters who risk …

IWMF joins boycott against Beverly Hills HotelMay 6, 2014 – The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is joining the international boycott against the Beverly Hills Hotel and has pulled its Courage in Journalism Awards ceremony from the venue. “We, the IWMF, can no longer hold an event at a venue whose owner stands for the violation of the very human rights …

Reporting from the Front Lines of WarJuly 18, 2012 — Courage Award Winners Kathy Gannon and Anja Niedringhaus have gone where no other foreign journalist had gone before: embedding with the Afghan National Army. AP reporter Kathy Gannon (Canada) is no stranger to reporting from a position of unique insight. Two weeks into the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, she …

Azerbaijan increases efforts to silence truth tellerby Erin Luhmann. March 4, 2014 — Khadija Ismayilova has made it her mission to ensure that the space of critical investigative reporting is not void in Azerbaijan. She hosts a weekly program on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service, where she reports on corruption and malfeasance in the country’s government and the unethical business …